Implementing Instruction

How can teachers implement effective instruction in their classrooms and make them conducive to meaningful learning?

      Teachers can implement effective instruction in their classrooms and make them conducive to meaningful learning through effective strategies, to communicate effectively and to support students’ engagement in the teaching-and-learning process. Studies emphasizes not only a teacher’s efforts at planning instruction, but also successfully implementing strategies appropriate to the content and instructional goals The literature on instruction suggests that students whose teachers develop and regularly integrate inquiry-based, hands-on learning activities, critical thinking skills, and assessments into daily lessons consistently out-perform their peers. Therefore, flexibility and adeptness with a variety of teaching strategies contribute to teacher effectiveness; teachers are obliged to look for the best strategies to implement instruction in their classrooms and make them conducive to meaningful learning. Definitely, some strategies that might help teachers to reach an effective instruction in their classrooms are combining instructional techniques that involve individual, small-group, and whole-class instruction. This allows them to monitor and pace instruction based on the individual needs of students.

Why is communication of content and skills knowledge a characteristic of good teachers?

    Communication of contents and skills knowledge is a characteristic of good teachers because communication is fundamental to any profession that requires interaction among people and within an organization. Teaching is no exception. Clarity on explanations, an important communication skill, is manifested in two primary ways in teaching process. The first, for example, relates to the teacher’s ability to explain content clearly and in focused manner pointing out concepts and relations; in this way, students learn and absorb what it is being taught in class. The second one, however, concerns the teacher’s clarity in terms of explain directions for how students are to complete an activity. Clearly, effective communication in teaching requires teachers to clearly understand subject matter and how to share that subject matter with students in a way that come to own it and understand it deeply.  

ORGANIZING FOR INSTRUCTION

ORGANIZING FOR INSTRUCTION

      How do you focus on instruction?

      Well, I try to follow what I have planned, and I try to manage time during the development of the class. One important thing that I take into account in my teaching practicum is to give my students clear instructions every time I start a class, a task, or an activity. I also try to persuade my students’ interest through activities that emphasize the need for them to experience success. Since the beginning of each class I try to model a good behavior and a deep interest in the TL because that lets students know that these two keys are important as it is presented in the book “Qualities of effective Teachers” where it is said that effective teachers see consistency and organization in their classroom as important because they allow the central focus of classroom time to be on teaching and learning. Therefore, for me it is pretty important to have this in mind when organizing for instruction.

      How do you maximize instructional time?

      I, for instance, remember the first day of my teaching practicum time was not enough and I was disappointed and in somehow frustrated since I had not finish everything I had in my lesson plan. However, I did not know that much about planning, timing, giving instructions, and so on. But now I do know how to make arrangements if something it is not working in class.  So for the next classes, I planned my classes more carefully and made an appropriate use of time. Besides, actually I am trying to maximize instructional time through tasks that allow not only my students to have responsibility but also accomplishment in regards with the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, the teacher whom I am working with and I always follow a sequence in our classes because in that way students know what is next during  class, coming up next week, or next month. That is why, I really like that teacher’s organizing for instruction because he is always informing and monitoring students in regards to lessons. Indeed, for every class I try to prepare my students for the day’s activities, and follow a consistent schedule and maintain procedures and routines established since the beginning of my teaching practicum. To be sincere, I try to make clear and smooth translations and maintain momentum within and across lessons.

      How do you expect students to succeed in your classes?   

As the book “Qualities of Effective Teachers” in its chapter four presents that effective teachers believe in their students and expect all of them to learn, regardless of their skill levels and starting points, I, of course, believe in my students; therefore, I can assure that they will learn no matter if they show a higher interest or not, but I will do my best for motivating and showing them that I believe in them and that they have the capability to learn English. For example, I had three students who were always talking, bothering, and never working in class. Once I talked to them and told them that they were able to learn if they wanted and also that they had to take avenges of time and not to lose it. Hence, they changed their behavior and now they are participating actively in class.

      How do you plan and prepare for instruction?

       I, for example, take into account not only the students’ level but also the students’ strengths or challenges; in other words, I think over my students’ needs before organizing and preparing for instructions. I, in fact, interview some of my students in and out of classes to see if they have learned something about English and to see how much familiar they are with the TL because this helps me to incorporate new things that are connected to prior school experiences or real-life-situations.

      Do you make last-minutes changes when things are not working? Based on what premises, have you made such changes? Did they work? What needs to be done to better your instruction?

      First, I always ask my tutor about what class I need to prepare or the content I have to develop. Then, I look for appropriate information, tasks, activities, drawings, etc. Besides, I have loved to be prepare with extra material if something does not work; once, I brought to my class an activity that I believed that it was very difficult for my students to do it, so I changed the activity and chose another one, considering that my students did not have the appropriate vocabulary and they could feel frustrated. That last-minute change helped me or even more it saved me from chaos. But I am sure that I need to do more researchers and get more information to better my instructions.  What I actually do is to talk and share ideas, experience and in some instances materials with my classmates, and until now that has been a good strategy.       

 

Classroom Management and Organization

      The first day I taught English to junior high school students, I did not know if I had to talk to hem in Spanish or in English, or both at the same time. The problem was that I was very nervous because they were looking at me the entire time, end the teacher was paying attention to what I was saying, too. However in my second class, the thing changed, two or three students asked me “Teacher, do we have to make a semi circle again?” I was amazed by that attitude and question. I had taught them that routine unconsciously, but it worked because I did not need to ask them again to do a semi circle; they did it by themselves. Another important thing is that now they are getting accustomed to work in pairs and groups something that I did not see during the classroom observations. Therefore, the chapter three of the book qualities of an effective teacher has empowered me by given me some ideas about how to better my classroom management skills. In fact, before my teaching practicum finishes, I promise myself to accomplish the following objectives in the next simple but realistic action plan:

ü  I will consider myself a successful English teacher if I include more practice than theory in my lesson plans. (In my two first classes, I did not leave enough time for students to talk and practice what they were learning).

ü  I will feel proud of myself as an effective English teacher if I work on creating a positive classroom climate and then if I work academics into the content than leaping into content during the coming weeks in junior high school. (During my first week in junior high school, I did not finish my lesson plan, so I was worried about it, but then I realized that the most important thing is not to try to cover all the theory if not that students learn more effectively).

ü  I will be happy if I learn at least in an eighty percent of accuracy my students’ name in the next week.

ü  I promise myself to organize each material I will bring to teach in classes.

ü  I will establish a consistent, proactive discipline, and I will also do an appropriate use of the classroom space.

ü   I will feel proud of myself if I establish a sense of community, peer work and team work, too.

ü  I will try to make use of training, feedback, and praise whenever possible and necessary.

ü  I will encourage my students to have self-discipline, so I will be a good example for them in regards to self-discipline.

ü  I will consider myself as an effective teacher if I am able to maintain clear rules and procedures, and credibility with students through a fair and consistent implementation of discipline.

My Classroom Observation at Junior High school "Alejandro de Humboldt"

        One week has passed since I started to go to junior high school, and I have noticed that to deal with teenagers is not as easy as it seems. However, having worked with some teens at church has helped me a lot since I got some experience. Nevertheless, it is somehow different to teach junior high school students than to teach kindergartners or religious children so that for me to teach junior high school students is challenging. I remember that during my classroom observations, a group of ninth grade students was looking at me in a way that scared me (the majority of them were boys); therefore, I decided not to teach ninth grade students but seventh grade students. The teacher whom I observed was amazed of seeing me there since I had been one of his farmer English students; I was a little uncomfortable there, and so was he. After the first observation he was sincere and explained to me all difficulties an English teacher has in that school in regards to the size of the classroom, numerous quantities of students, and lack of materials and resources. To tell the truth, I could see his honesty, sincerity, and willingness to make the learning process more interesting to his students no matter how hard it could be. Finally, that teacher told me something that really struck my mine; he told me “This group of students (seventh grade students) is in your hands, so do whatever you consider good for them.” “Don’t worry; I’m here to learn from you, too.” So, I really appreciate his desire to help me and his humbleness, too.

The Teacher as a Person

I state two characteristics of the teacher as a person in the following way:  
 

•Role of  Fairness and Respect

 

•Costructive social interactions contribute  to Ss learning and achievement and increase Ss self-esteem.

•Effective teachers demonstrate interest in students' lives .

 

•Role of caring 

 

•two-way communication that exudes trust, tact, honesty,humility,and care.

 

•effective teachers care  for the student first as a person and then as a student.

•Respects each student as an individual.

The two characteristics above are pretty important for me; however, I have taken just some of the qualities of an effective teacher as a person since they are many. But the ones I picked are in somehow similar and represent the attitude a teacher shows toward teaching profession. Besides, in these two characteristics teachers have something in common; that is to say, they are seen as leaders, and the ones that invest in their own education something that really struck in my mind because nowadays it is rarely to see a teacher interested in his or her own learning except those who are not already involved in the traditional way of teaching. It would be nice if we teachers could combine these two characteristics and also the ones I did not mention but this is a matter of being aware of what the teaching and learning process are all about.  Clearly, effective teachers as persons model to their students that education and learning are valuable by taking classes and participating in professional development, conferences, and in-service training, too.